Geology topics

Arthur McGarr

Publications and source records attributed to Arthur McGarr.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2018

Injection-induced moment release can also be aseismic

The cumulative seismic moment is a robust measure of the earthquake response to fluid injection for injection volumes ranging from 3100 to about 12 million m3. Over this range, the moment release is limited to twice the product of the shear modulus and the volume of injected fluid. This relation also applies at the much smaller injection volumes of the field experiment in France reported by Guglielmi, et al. (2015) and laboratory experiments to simulate hydraulic fracturing described by Goodfellow, et al. (2015). In both of these studies, the relevant moment release for comparison with the fluid injection was aseismic and consistent with the scaling that applies to the much larger volumes associated with injection-induced earthquakes with magnitudes extending up to 5.8. Neither the micro-earthquakes, at the site in France, nor the acoustic emission in the laboratory samples contributed significantly to the deformation due to fluid injection.

Geophysical Research Letters↗

USGS2014

Seismic seiches

Seismic seiche is a term first used by Kvale (1955) to discuss oscillations of lake levels in Norway and England caused by the Assam earthquake of August 15, 1950. This definition has since been generalized to apply to standing waves set up in closed, or partially closed, bodies of water including rivers, shipping channels, lakes, swimming pools and tanks due to the passage of seismic waves from an earthquake.

Book chapter↗

USGS2012

An implosive component in the seismic moment tensor of a mining-Induced tremor

In early 1988, a special study in one of the major South African gold fields yielded seismograms that indicate seismic moment tensors having substantial implosive components. The moment tensor, resulting from the inversion of the ground motion data from the best-recorded event, was decomposed into isotropic and deviatoric components from which both the coseismic volumetric closure Δ V and the total shear deformation AD , where A is fault area and D is average slip, could be estimated. The finding here that Δ V ∼ AD is consistent with earlier analyses of how the tabular mine stopes interact with the surrounding rock mass to produce seismic deformation.

Geophysical Research Letters↗

USGS1990

Synthetic seismogram analysis of locally-recorded mine tremors

The fitting of synthetic seismograms to locally-recorded, broad-band, wide dynamic range seismic data is a very effective means of determining both seismic source parameters and focal mechanisms of mine tremors. Using data from a single three-component surface station, in conjunction with a seismic location network, a comprehensive description of the seismic source process can be obtained by the trial and error calculation of synthetic seismograms, for a point source in a homogeneous half-space, until the ground motion observed at the surface is matched. This methodology was applied to two tremors located in the Vaal Reefs Gold Mine, near Klerksdorp, South Africa, and was used to relate these events to the geological and mining situation in the environs of each hypocenter.

Klerksdorp↗

USGS1968

Seismic seiches from the March 1964 Alaska earthquake

Seismic seiches caused by the Alaska earthquake of March 27, 1964, were recorded at more than 850 surface-water gaging stations in North America and at 4 in Australia. In the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, 763 of 6,435 gages registered seiches. Nearly all the seismic seiches were recorded at teleseismic distance. This is the first time such far-distant effects have been reported from surface-water bodies in North America. The densest occurrence of seiches was in States bordering the Gulf of Mexico. The seiches were recorded on bodies of water having a wide range in depth, width, and rate of flow. In a region containing many bodies of water, seiche distribution is more dependent on geologic and seismic factors than on hydro-dynamic ones. The concept that seiches are caused by the horizontal acceleration of water by seismic surface waves has been extended in this paper to show that the distribution of seiches is related to the amplitude distribution of short-period seismic surface waves. These waves have their greatest horizontal acceleration when their periods range from 5 to 15 seconds. Similarly, the water bodies on which seiches were recorded have low-order modes whose periods of oscillation also range from 5 to 15 seconds. Several factors seem to control the distribution of seiches. The most important is variations of thickness of low-rigidity sediments. This factor caused the abundance of seiches in the Gulf Coast area and along the edge of sedimentary overlaps. Major tectonic features such as thrust faults, basins, arches, and domes seem to control seismic waves and thus affect the distribution of seiches. Lateral refraction of seismic surface waves due to variations in local phase-velocity values was responsible for increase in seiche density in certain areas. For example, the Rocky Mountains provided a wave guide along which seiches were more numerous than in areas to either side. In North America, neither direction nor distance from the epicenter had any apparent effect on the distribution of seiches. Where seismic surface waves propagated into an area with thicker sediment, the horizontal acceleration increased about in proportion to the increasing thickness of the sediment. In the Mississippi Embayment however, where the waves emerged from high rigidity crust into the sediment, the horizontal acceleration increased near the edge of the embayment but decreased in the central part and formed a shadow zone. Because both seiches and seismic intensity depend on the horizontal acceleration from surface waves, the distribution of seiches may be used to map the seismic intensity that can be expected from future local earthquakes.

Professional Paper↗

USGS1966

The Alaska earthquake, March 27, 1964: effects on hydrologic regimen

This is the fourth in a series of six reports that the U.S. Geological Survey published on the results of a comprehensive geologic study that began, as a reconnaissance survey, within 24 hours after the March 27, 1964, Magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake and extended, as detailed investigations, through several field seasons. The 1964 Great Alaska earthquake was the largest earthquake in the U.S. since 1700. Professional Paper 544, in 5 parts, describes the effects on hydrologic regimen.

Alaska↗